Rye: a girl's guide to the best hotels, shops and restaurants

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• There’s only one spot to book and that’s the recently renovated boutique hotel The Gallivant, just outside Rye beside a glorious stretch of Camber Sands. It’s modelled on a surf shack, with plenty of distressed wood and white floorboards. Food comes courtesy of the former French Laundry chef Ben Fisher, and wines are from nearby Chapel Down vineyard. From £115.

A room at The Gallivant

• Alternatively, try The George, a boutique bolthole in the centre of town. From £135.

Eat

• Owned by the ex-proprietors of The Engineer in Primrose Hill, London, The Ship Innserves wonderful fish and chips. There’s a laid-back, vintage look inside, and rooms upstairs should you not want to leave.

The Ship Inn

Drink

• Rye boasts some of England’s oldest pubs.The Mermaid Innis a former smugglers’ stronghold, dating from 1420 and full of character. Or sample the Sunday roast at Ye Olde Bell, a 15th-century establishment named after a French raid on the town during which the church bells were stolen.

• Edith’s House is Rye’s newest and cosiest coffee shop, run by two actors who fell in love with the area on a weekend away, upped sticks and moved. They brought with them Climpson & Sons coffee, a love of home-made cakes, and a French bulldog called Roux. 105a High Street

Shop

• Rye may be famous for its antiques, but there’s more to tempt your purse than furniture. For kitchenware from the 1950s to the present, try Country Ways on Strand Quay, a treasure-trove of crockery, vintage weighing scales and gingham tablecloths.

• The Tiny Book Store, in Church Square, must be England’s smallest bookshop, with just one room lined with second-hand treasures.

Do

• Tour Chapel Down vineyard, a 15-minute drive from town, and enjoy lunch in its restaurant, The Swan. Once your stomach has been lined, indulge in a tasting session. Tip: buy a bottle of the honeyish 2014 Nectar dessert wine, a guaranteed sellout.

Chapel Down vineyard

• Visit the walled garden at Lamb House. This Georgian manor was home to Henry James, who wrote three of his novels here and was visited by literary friends including HG Wells and Rudyard Kipling.